{"id":447545,"date":"2026-02-27T00:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T00:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/447545\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T00:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T00:09:09","slug":"d4vd-named-as-target-in-celeste-rivas-hernandez-murder-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/447545\/","title":{"rendered":"D4vd Named as ‘Target’ in Celeste Rivas Hernandez Murder Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSinger D4vd<\/a>, born David Anthony Burke, has been formally identified as the \u201ctarget\u201d of a grand jury investigation i<\/a>nto the alleged homicide of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, according to recently unsealed court documents obtained by Rolling Stone.<\/p>\n

\n\tPetitions included as exhibits in a 151-page filing by lawyers representing D4vd\u2019s parents and brother state that the Los Angeles County District Attorney\u2019s Office identified the singer as the target of its grand jury inquiry. The documents, filed in Texas without the sealing protections applied in California, sought grand jury testimony from D4vd\u2019s father, Dawud Burke, his mother, Colleen Burke, and his brother, Caleb Burke, starting on Feb. 11. The documents described D4vd as someone who \u201cmay be involved in having committed\u201d a crime listed as \u201cone count of murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe filings also disclosed new details about the condition of Rivas\u2019s remains when investigators opened the trunk of D4vd\u2019s towed Tesla at an impound yard on Sept. 8, 2025. \u201cWhen the front storage compartment was opened, detectives observed a black cadaver bag covered with insects and a strong odor of decay,\u201d the documents said. \u201cUtilizing black latex gloves, detectives partially unzipped the bag and observed a decomposed head and torso.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe filings said that once investigators removed the first cadaver bag from the trunk, \u201cit was discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body.\u201d It said that \u201ca second black bag was discovered underneath the cadaver bag. Upon opening the second bag, the dismembered body parts were discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe records were originally filed under seal in California before being made public through a Texas Appellate proceeding tied to the family\u2019s efforts to avoid compelled testimony. The musician\u2019s relatives were described as having \u201ca close relationship\u201d with D4vd. When the family members tried to fight the subpoenas with claims they were too secretive and vague, a Texas prosecutor urged a judge to honor the California petitions at a Feb. 2 hearing in Waller County, Texas, according to a transcript obtained by Rolling Stone.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI would say if a car with a dismembered, decomposing body is registered to your home address, that is something you should expect to be questioned by the authorities about. And that\u2019s what this is, judge,\u201d Waller County Assistant DA Bennett Dodson said. \u201cSo I\u2019m asking this court to find [that the family witnesses] are necessary and material. I\u2019m asking you to find that it will not cause them undue hardship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe First District Court of Appeals in Texas denied habeas corpus petitions from all three family members that sought to overturn a lower court ruling requiring them to testify in California. One of the lawyers representing D4vd\u2019s family tells Rolling Stone the battle over the subpoenas isn\u2019t over.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhile the Court of Appeals denied our writ, later that day, we filed a subsequent writ in a higher court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals,\u201d attorney Kent A. Schaffer said in an email. \u201cThey agreed with us and issued a stay of the lower court\u2019s order, which commanded the Burkes\u2019 appearance in California. That matter is still pending in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter authorities reported that a body was found in the trunk of the musician\u2019s Tesla in September, they said the body had deteriorated to such a degree that it took medical examiners a full week to identify the victim as Celeste Rivas<\/a>. The 14-year-old was reported missing by her family in February and April 2024.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe following November, Los Angeles Police Det. Joshua Byers characterized the case as an \u201cinvestigation into murder<\/a>\u201d and requested a court order preventing the release of Rivas\u2019 autopsy findings. Byers argued public release of details surrounding Rivas\u2019 death could jeopardize the homicide investigation and had to be protected, the Los Angeles Times reported. The request was granted by a judge, who ordered that the ME\u2019s findings be sealed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tD4vd, a platinum-selling artist who gained international popularity on TikTok, broke through in 2022 with his singles \u201cRomantic Homicide\u201d and \u201cHere With Me.\u201d The deluxe edition of his debut album, Withered, was shelved, and the remaining dates of his U.S. tour were cancelled<\/a> amid the ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis story was updated on Feb. 26 at 1:54 a.m. ET with a statement from the Burke family\u2019s attorney.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Singer D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, has been formally identified as the \u201ctarget\u201d of a grand jury investigation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[18351,1016,162354,96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-447545","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-controversy","9":"tag-courts-and-crime","10":"tag-d4vd","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-gb","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}